Instead, the Hollywood CG-machine behind Despicable Me take a simple, potent allegory which arrived ahead of its time and turn it into a wacky 3D kids’ movie that feels behind it.
Opening exuberantly with a kicky musical number, The Lorax introduces us to a happy, plastic city where fresh air is bottled, nature is inflatable and a boy (Zac Efron) quests into the barren landscape in search of a real tree.
But this is just a framing device for Seuss’ original ’70s story – his favourite, according to his widow – about a mysterious hermit called the Once-ler (Ed Helms) who lives alone in a wasteland he created by foolishly destroying the environment for a fast buck, much to the despair of tree-hugging spirit The Lorax (Danny DeVito). It’s a dark, powerful parable about ambition corrupting into greed, and it’s done very well.
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But this central flashback core has been gaudily wrapped up in an awful lot of nonsense to pad out the running time. Zooming scooter chases, grandma on skis, a pint-size villain (Rob Riggle) with his two goons, and cutesy forest creatures that – as in Despicable Me – are probably the best thing about the movie.
Sure, it’s a beautifully designed world of blossoming candyfloss trees and popping colours. But it paints over the story’s ominous message of consumption versus conservation, turning it into a fizzy confection that’s manic and meaningless. Not a bad film, just not a good one.
When Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind and Princess Mononoke , or even the terrific Seuss ’toon Horton Hears A Who! are waiting for a rewatch, why settle for less?
That might sound harsh, but as The Lorax says, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. It’s not.”
